Automatic fire alarm



May 26, 1925. 1,539,538

J. T. BEASLEY AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM Filed Oct. l5, 1923 Patented May 26, 1925'.

UNITED STATES JOHN T. BEASLEY, OF BLAKELY, GEORGIA.

AUTOMATIC FIR-E ALARM.

Application filed October 15, 1923.

To all whom it may concern.' i

Be it known that I, JOHN T. BnAsLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Blakely, in the county of Early and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire Alarms; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and igures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to automatic lire alarms wherein the action of the h-eat causes a parting or break in a system of lines or wires thus automatically actuating an alarm sounding apparatus which also indicates the location of the fire.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an apparatus of the character to be described which not only can be concealed from view and thus avoid the unsightly appearance resulting from the usual method of installation or' such devices but as a result of its peculiar method of support will possess their advantages of eliiciency and also be able to detect more promptly those i'ires which have their origin in elevator or dumb-waiter shafts and thus work their way in between the walls of the building.

With these objects in view and suoli others as may appear as the description proceeds, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 represents a vertical section of a building having my invention installed, the annunciating member being represented on a considerably larger scale than the rest of the figure in order that the connections orn my device thereto may be the more readily shown, and

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail showing the manner in which my device is supported.

My invention as shown consists essentially oi. two m-embers or groups of parts A and B which are duplicates one of the other, each member consisting of an upper and lower part a', a and b, respectively, each of which olf-sets or balances the other. For theI upper part a of the member A, I bore. in the wall or partition of the room two pairs of holes 1 and 2, the holes of each pair being in a vertical line. Similarly for the lower part a of member A, I bore two pairs Serial No. 6684737.

of holes 3 and 4, the holes of each pair being in a vertical line, also the holes ofpair V3 being in line with those of pair 1 and those of pair 4 being in line with those of pair 2, the holes of pairs 1 and 2 and.l those ofv pairs 3 and 4 marking -approximately'the corners of a rectangle. The pairs of holes y5 and 6 of part b andv7 and 8 of part b are similarly placed.v Snugly fitting these holes are the pairs of discs 9,10, 11, 12, 13, 14, l5, 16, the -discs of the respective pairs lbeing connected by lengths of fusible wire, these lengths .being somewhat longer than the distance between the discs and forming loops or bends 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, said loops or bends passing over pulleys 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 respectively, the pulleys 25 and 26 being pivotally mounted at the ends of a short'bar 33, pulleys 27 and 28 pivotally mount-edl at the ends of a short bar 34, and'pulleys 29 and 30 and pulleys 31 and 32 being similarly mounted at the ends of short barsY 35 and 36 respectively. At the centers of bars 33, 34, 35 and 36 I pivotally mount pulleys 37, 38, 39 and 40 respectively, pulleys 37 and 38 being on adjacent sides of bars 33 and 34 respectively and pulleys 39 and 40 being on adjacent sides of bars 35 and 36 respectively, so that a cord or cable passedv over pulleys 37 and 38 and placed under tension will tendto draw bars 33 and 34 together and create a tension in wires 17, 18, 19 and 20 and similarly a cable passed over pulleys 39 and 40 and placed Linder tension will tend to draw bars 35 and 36 together and produce a tension in wires 21, 22, 23, and 24. Between bars 33 and 34 and on opposite sides or' a line joining their middle points I mount pulleys 41 and 42 and between bars 35 and 36 and on oppo-site sides of a line joining their'middle points I mount pulleys 43 and 44. These pulleys ar-e mounted on the inside of the lathing or directly on the wall in the case of a wood partition. In the wall framing joist at the side of member A opposite from member B I place a` screw eye 45 and on the side of member B away from member A to the joist, I attach a pulley 46 by bracket 47. I have shown diagrammatically a form of annunciator which can be operated by my apparatus. A casing 48 contains the usual electric bell cir-- cuit 49 which operates the bell 50 and which contains the switch lever 51 normally held in open position by spring 61, which makes and breaks the circuit at 52 in the manner lto bedescribed. To screw eye I attach a flexible` wire jor cord 53 land vpass same sucxcessivly "over pulleys nya?, 3s and 42 of member A, thence to pulleys 43, 39, 40

and 44 of member B, thuenzel to pulley y46. The direction of the cord from this point is dependent upon the location of the annunciator.V As shown in the drawing the anto annunciator 48.1-y At the point where 'cord 53 passe'slever 5l `said cord 53 carries al flat '911m "56 'having a lngaudinar S105 "57 vthrough which -lever lpasses.v` In the lower bearing the number ofthe room` whence cord 53.1cornes, and at thev lower extremity cord '533 carries aweght y59.- `Thedoor ofcasing '48 has an 0}; e'ning 60 through: which Vplate 58 can be seen when alarm issounded. Under normal conditions the cord 53 beingat'- 'tachedftoscreweye '45"and weight 59 at itsy extremity will be held under tensionand 'in a 'condition of equilibrium, but when a fire'Y occurs AinA 'the immediate" Aneighborhood of the'apparatus and one ofthe fu sible metal discs 9; 10, etc`.,"or"`on`e of the'fusible wire loops 17, '1 8, etc; is vmelted by' the heat ythis destroys the equilibrium in the system and slackens the tension ont-he cord 53 andimln'e'dia'tely weight *59, drops'. 'fTh'is `brings down the lever 51 againstspring l61 closing the circuit 'at 52', thus sounding the alarm. At the same timek plate 5S"bearing"thev loca- Y tio'no ther'oomdrops into view 'opposite the opening V60. While y'I lhave 'described the holes l, 2, etc. laid out generally in rectangular'form, that is not necessary," the essential point being that the discs'f9, 10, etc. 'shall form triangles with their respective pulleys 25,326, etci,'th.e'purpose of lwhich is obvious from the drawing. Andvvhile I have shown my invention installed in the walls of a houseit 'can be used equally well inthe ceiling or under the flooring. And further while I have shown 'the deviceA "in `its preferred form`with individual cords leading from: the""severalV rooms, a common'cord might be taken from the aimunciatoi" and branch oil inv individual cords to theseveral roomsi" And further, while 'for clearness I have" shown but one switchV lex'fer 51 it is obvious that aseparate lever "may be used for each cord or slotted` plate," or an indi-` vidualv klever may be passed through the several plates 57. And further, while the discs 9 10, etc. ,are shown as'being visiluleinn rooms C andD, Va coating of paint or wall paper will render the whole apparatus invisible. In a private dwelling, the annunciator can be placed in the cellar or in the hallway.

Instead of an electric alarm, any ordinary mechanically operated gongy mechanism released upon 'mdv'ement of the lever 5l to give an alarm may be used, and which is notillustrated in deta' A tion. y

Having described my ivention and s et forth its merits, What'I claim isi t I. vIn a device ofthe character described,

a plurality of discs oi'iilusible riateial I `1n cavities formedV in a support, fusible wiies connecting saidV discs in pairs, a cordlta'king v v. i" i "'xl' ...I n Y a staggered course relativelyl to said 'rusible `vwires,1 'suspension' bars provided ywith lyingin loops bf thev fusible wiresand connecting one 'set o'f said wires v'with another set/,means for .holding said cord under tnsionymeans carried by said cord ior setting Aofi" an alarm when tension isorn'oved, and means carried by said cord 'for indicating location of rupturedmembers asV and for the purpose described.' l "l v 2. lrIn 'a device of the character described, a plurality of discs of fusib'lematerial, fusi'- ble' wires connecting said discs zin pairs, 'swinging suspei'ision'bars provided with i ulleysjlying in loops` 'oit :thefusible wire ,"a cord taking a staggered course relatively to the suspension bars and connectedV therewith, means for 'holding said rcord, under tension and means carried bv said cord' for setting off analarmimechanivsm when tensionfisfremoved, as and for the pur ose described.V

Ina device of the character described, a plurality of discs `i'usi'ble material, fusible wires connecting said discs in pairs, pulleys carrying said fusible \vires,bars for p'ivotally mounting said pulleys'- in pairs, ya third pulley mounted on eachY of said bars in opposed relation to eaclr of said pairs of pulleys, va cord taking: a staggered`A` course relatively to said Vlast Vmentioned pulleys, means for holding said cord' under tefnsioii, and. means carried by said 'cord for setting off an alarm mechanism when tension isre moved as and for the purpose described."

In testimon whereof I al'lix my signature in presence o two witnesses. Y

JOHN T. BEASLEY.

` lVitnesses:

` JoE'W. ViNsoLI.,

R. ALEXANDER.

because no t'involving inven- 

